LGBT Gun Owners Don’t Get Bashed

I was recently reading RF’s Mass Killings, New Orleans, and the Mind of a Gun Grabber article. That reminded me of the UpStairs Lounge arson attack that killed 32 people in the Crescent City back in the 70s. And an incident here in Seattle last August as well as something that happened to me personally got me thinking about why I own firearms (I’m going to start carrying as soon as I can find a decent job that allows me to purchase my Springfield XD compact, but that’s a whole different ball of wax). But first some backstory on me . . .

I am a pre-op transsexual. I also have posted on here a couple of times and am a devoted reader, so let’s please keep the burning torches and pitchforks in the barn. Once upon a time I was a Democrat because that’s what I thought I should be given my situation. But I was also a strong 2A-supporting Democrat (so I have that going for me). After last year’s attempt at universal background checks I am now an independent because I realize that I agree with some tenants of the conservative side of politics as well as the liberal side of the spectrum.

I have asked many of my gay friends who don’t carry why they don’t carry to protect themselves, especially after someone was beaten up because they were gay. The answer is generally “I don’t know” or “guns cause more problems than they solve”. I generally look at them and ask them if they would rather take the beating or have some way to possibly defend themselves. And then it dissolves into the guns-are-icky part.

But back to the original part of the story about the incident that occurred in my past. I was at Walmart running an errand and I was waiting in line when all of a sudden this guy starts in on me. Normally I am passable, which means that people can’t generally tell because of my voice, stature or whatnot, but for some reason he picked up on me.

He shouted that I was a disgrace and a freak etc. In fact it got to the point where I was looking around for store personnel to help me because I was getting scared and worried that this might escalate to a point where I might have to defend myself. But no one stood up for me or came to my defense.

As the individual was leaving he showed me his Aryan Brotherhood membership card, and that was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I was visibly shaken and the employees at Walmart were excellent and banned him from the store. As I was leaving, I was scanning the parking lot with my keys in my hand in such a way if I could use them as a weapon in case I needed to defend myself.

Before that I hadn’t really thought about carrying (at that point I owned a few guns, as much as the budget would allow). I mean, it was a passing thought, but it got me to thinking and researching. One of the items that I found out is that transgender individuals are more likely to be assaulted than the general population. There have been several incidents where this has been videotaped and very few people stepped up to the plate to stop it (as in my case). So I started asking myself, why not carry to defend myself if the situation arose? I also started thinking about how to carry as well and what type of firearm I wanted.

The moral of the story here is, I may be “different” but I understand the need to carry, and the reason the 2A exists. As I had said previously, I knew that the 2A was about our ability to defend ourselves, but I never really understood the reason for the ability to defend ourselves. As a side note, I still find it interesting that many in the community don’t understand why I carry or why I am not against guns.

Yeah, speaking as an OFWG and GOP voter (because the LUTHA [Leave Us The Hell Alone] Party has a hard time persuading any member to run for office), the 2nd Amendment applies to everyone – it is about protecting yourself and defending your dignity as a human being. Whatever your color, gender ID, religion, ethnicity – self-defense is, as the Supreme Court said in Heller vs. DC, a fundamental human right. This is “…the right to ‘protect [oneself] against both public and private violence,’ thus extending the right in some form to wherever a person could become exposed to public or private violence.”

I’m a devout Catholic, from a devout Catholic family, and while neither me nor my family members would or could condone homosexuality or homosexual behavior, none of us would EVER consider acting in an aggressive or violent manner towards him, or anybody else, unless they pose an obvious and imminent threat to us or someone nearby.

I don’t give two sh*ts what two grown people do in the privacy of their own homes.

The things I take issue with are the public nudity at “gay pride” parades and the police who won’t enforce the laws banning such activity, the systematic alteration of the English language to accommodate the lifestyle choices these people make, the increasingly liberal sexual education curricula in the public school systems, demanding that the taxpayers fund their medical procedures, and the general attitude of trying to force society as a whole to accept/support/appreciate their lifestyle choices.

If a person who chooses to live a homosexual lifestyle refrains from the aforementioned activities, they’ll have no beef with me.

So, tell me, “Patriot,” When was it that you made the CONSCIOUS decision to be straight. You keep saying “lifestyle choices” and refer to “a person who chooses to live a homosexual lifestyle,” so ask yourself that question, “When did I make the choice to be straight?” I am a straight, male, Christian, with predominantly conservative views. I also embrace the Constitution, which I swore an oath to protect and defend, as well as the Declaration of Independence. In the latter, I am quite sure that “all men (people) are created equal” did not contain an asterisk.

Part of tolerance is tolerating people with underdeveloped views of the world and the patchwork of humans that make up society. Tolerance doesn’t mean acceptance on either side, it just means you have to put up with people’s behavior so long as it doesn’t directly harm you.

And the whole public nudity/PDA thing might be annoying and a nuisance, but it doesn’t harm anyone. It also doesn’t make a great example of a particular group of individuals, and probably isn’t the best way to convince people that your side is the right one to be on. Kind of like walking around with a rifle slung over your shoulder just to get attention.

I am also a Catholic and I agree with you about the stance on violence exactly especially when it comes to people who have historically hated my religion as well. I however choose to not pass judgement and leave that for God and God alone. I thank you Sabrina for seeing that law abiding citizens have a need and right to defend themselves and the ones they love from the scum of the Earth that would try to take that very enjoyment of life from them.

Bottom Line: It doesn’t matter if we are – young, old, beautiful, handsome, average, handicapped, strong, weak, or any other possible description or condition ….. WE ALL HAVE THE RIGHT TO DEFEND AND PROTECT OURSELVES Against those who would, for any reason, do us harm.

Yeah, you can bandy it around and argue the points, but I watched my best friends younger brother live a miserable life, for his entire life. He was quite religious, as was his family, he was also one of the most feminine boy/man. Emotionally, physically, and (hidden though it was) sexually.

He was never into the sports and physical activities that all of the other boys in our group were, but he tried, and was always there with us doing them. You could tell he was always suppressing what he felt, and miming what he thought he should feel.

I could go on and write a book (you could say I already have), but I’ll try to get to the point… He had a miserable life. He didn’t choose to be something he felt such a strong urge to suppress, and I’ll never be convinced otherwise.

First off… transgenderism, transsexualism, and gender in general, has nothing to do with sexuality. Get off your religious soapbox, stop judging, stop basing ignorant comments on a subject you know nothing of.

People don’t exist to make you happy or to live their lives based on your idea of a “perfect” human being. Your “God” created us as we are, which includes our minds, souls, and bodies. After 43 years of life I finally came to terms with my pansexuality and gender identity. I decided to make myself happy in accordance with my own feelings, thoughts, and beliefs. Nothing I do has an impact on you.

FWIW, I have always been pro Second Amendment and Constitution, every single American has individual sovereign rights which shall not be infringed upon by any other person regardless of that persons religion or political beliefs. That includes the right to love and marry those who that person wants. And the right for all to defend themselves regardless of gender, including MTF, FTM, and intersexed folks.

Fun fact: in Iran – yes, that fundamentalist Shia Muslim theocratic state – sex reassignment therapy is allowed. In fact, it is mandatory if a person declares that their gender identity doesn’t match their sex, and doctors confirm that the declaration is genuine.

They have a fairly straightforward theological explanation for it, too. They accept the fact that gender and sex are two different things: gender being psychological – or, in their parlance, spiritual, a trait of the soul; and sex being physical. Therefore, when the two do not match, they see it as an illness, not dissimilar to any issue people might be born with. But from there they conclude that, as soul is more pure than the body, so in the case of a mismatch it must be assumed that the soul is right and the body is wrong, and the latter is what should be corrected.

Int19h… Yeah, Iran forces transgendered people to immediately undergo surgery, whether they want it or not. If not they are subjected to the same laws, respect, and treatment as homosexuals are in Iran. That sounds like fair treatment to you? Lashings, imprisonment, execution… what a wonderful country to live in.

I didn’t say anything about it being a “wonderful country”, did I? I merely pointed out that even mullahs realize that what’s in the head is more important than the shape of the body, and if you have to refit one to match the other, it’s the body that’s far easier to change.

I have to call BS on this story. Are we to believe that an Aryan Brotherhood member goes to Walmart and is upset seeing a “freak”? Has he never been to a Walmart? And who flashes a membership card? The Swastika tattoo was not convincing enough?

Other than that, I don’t hate gays or transgenders. I just have no need to know about them. I don’t think gay rights is a separate issue from any human rights. The 2a is theirs and mine as US citizens. I just get tired of the constant in your face you must accept me attitude of the LGBT community. If your happiness is contingent upon my embracing your queerness, then you have a problem, not I.

I think the swastika tattoo is the “membership card.” I’ve seen them lift their sleeves before. As far as being accosted in a wal mart, have YOU ever been to a wal mart before? I’ve been accosted their for just being a nerd.

Why is reporting the fact that you’re being verbally and/or physically assaulted in a public space somehow “victim mentality”? And why didn’t you raise that point in numerous other “potential defensive gun use of the day” posts on TTAG?

int19h, So you acknowlege the difference between what should be a DGU and a potential DGU. The world is full of assholes. Grow a set of nuts (or don’t cut off the ones you have) and stand up to bullies. Turn the other cheek. If you are a nerd, freak or geek, this may be a sign of weakness to a bully. I just get tired of the “feel sorry for me” cry for sympathy. Everybody has struggles that we deal with everyday. Yours are no more important than mine. It reminds me of when Obama said “as a young black male walking down the street, white people would lock their car doors as I passed”. Boo fricken hoo mr. President. All this liberal whining is non productive.

Michael, I don’t see any “poor me” attitudes in this post. She might have a softer narrative voice than most writers here, but the article itself seems to be about her decision to carry, one that was based on her personal experience, and the experiences of those like her. That the personal experience involved an individual who adopted an ideology that killed millions of people only helps convince the passive reader that her actions are justified.

It is not so much that but that in addition to Chris’ reply about being accosted for being a nerd. Everybody is different but we are all the same under the Constitution. Why can’t Peaches just say “can anyone recomend a good CC pistol for a woman?” Why do we have to hear about his sex change operation? There are plenty of good sites for women carry issues. The Cornered Cat is a good one http://www.corneredcat.com/
This has become a pitty party as so much as a collection is being made to buy he/she a pistol even though he already owns or has owned guns.

Because her article isn’t simply about looking for a pistol, it’s about what drew her to concealed carry. Being transgender is probably a big part of her identity, so while you might not like reading about it, it’s still going to find it’s way into her prose. If you or I were going to write a piece on why we do or don’t carry I’m sure personal information and decisions would play in as well.

He didn’t have any tattoo’s or markings that I saw, I mean he might have had some undercover, but one having a swastika tattoo doesn’t mean anything, one of my friends has it tattooed on him, and he is far from being a neo-nazi, he uses it as it is supposed to be a Buddhist good luck symbol.

Yeah, YOU don’t have a problem. (insert sarcastic eye roll) As I stated previously, neither the Constitution, nor the Declaration, contain asterisks, when talking about the rights of the people. Get over yourself.

I would love to reply to your dissagreement…if I could find any. You need to be more clear in your statement to be understood. You said ” neither the Constitution, nor the Declaration, contain asterisks, when talking about the rights of the people”. I believe that was my point when I said “I don’t think gay rights is a separate issue from any human rights. The 2a is theirs and mine as US citizens”.
My other point was happiness comes from within. If you are relying on the judgement of others to attain happiness then you have a problem.

You shouldn’t assume cause this is a gun forum we’re all hate mongering whackos. I’m a libertarian: I don’t care what you do with your body or live the way you want to live. In a world where appearance, from hair colour for body shape and faces can be completely altered why bother with a restriction on gender as well? It’s your life, live it how you want to, you’ve only got one life and one body, if you want to leave it be, tattoo it up, or change your gender it’s your call (just don’t ask me to pay for it) and the Second Amendment will always apply to you for your protection against those who would do you harm, be it armed criminal, bigoted prick or tyrannical government.

And you shouldn’t assume she is assuming, as she said she is a long time reader of this blog and has no doubt seen the gamut of opinions and comments that are posted here daily as have I. To post about being a trans gender on this blog is to invite atleast a hand full of vile comments. That is a statistical probability based on past experience not an assumption.

Perhaps your kneejerk reaction of assuming she is reffering to you says something about you rather than her?

Well Steve, I’m a hundred posts read in this thread so far, and yours is the only hate I’ve seen. I’m all for slamming people who say ignorant things, but you might want to wait until someone actually does it before you unleash your own brand of bigotry.

I used to believe the whole “Guns solve more problems than they solve” appeal but like so much of the gun control schtick it is not based in logic or reason.

People in the LGBT community should be pro-active about their defense. You can’t rely on the police to do much other than file a report afterwards. Never really understood why the Dems want them disarmed so badly.

Technically yes but I HAVE seen homosexual transsexuals who are born a man, are attracted to women, but still wish to be a woman. Also the “T” in LGBT stands for Transsexuals. We are generally grouped together because people who hate us like to put us in the same category.

Not necessarily. We’re talking about two different things here: gender identity and gender attraction. Gender identity is how you feel: male, female, both, or neither. Gender attraction is what you’re attracted to: also male, female, both, or neither.

I’m also trans, but I’m now 16 years post-op. I was originally straight (attracted to women), and expected to remain straight (attracted to men), but I turned out to be lesbian. Go figure.

Oh, yes: I carry because occasionally some asshole like the guy in the original article exists in my world.

A couple of friends of mine from the international motorcycling circles have gone through sex changes. And I can assure folks that guys that ride across national borders tend to be more manly than 99% of the gun weenies that whine about their gun “rights” and their love of reichwing politics.

Grise, your reichwing views are part of what’s wrong with this nation. There is noting more disgusting than some ammosexual fool that refuses to understand that gun owners don’t all have to be Obama haters.

Please, for the love of all that is good, stop. Your obnoxious buzz words and piss poor attitude towards People of the Gun weren’t clever or humorous the first time around, and they are even less so now. I’m not telling you to be a 2nd Amendment absolutist or get out, but when you use terms like “reichwing”, “Faux news”, “ammosexual” and question peoples’ manhood/make phallic compensation references, we tend to completely disregard anything else you have to say after that.

Unless your goal is to accost people with all the trendy new slogans you learned in the HuffPo comments section, you’re not doing a very good job. How about engaging in conversation, and trying to get your point across without resorting to childish insults? You’d have a far greater chance of getting somewhere that way.

I for one commend, nay applaud your comments, John G. It gives the rest of us a continued insight in the dangerous mindset of the Statist Modern Left. Most of your brethren would be content on espousing the same views on the daily worker or Mother Jones, but you seek to come into the Lions Den, so to speak. I ask, however, that next time you use more partisanship, more pejoratives, more negativity, more race baiting and false historical narrative, you seem to be losing it a bit.

It is sad that you in particular have gone through what you have gone through; sadder still is I know of plenty of people on gun fora who will no doubt secretly applaud what happened to you. Ironic that many adamantly pro 2A people are part of your reason you need to be armed.

Yech. Steve you dont speak for me here. Again, your words say more about you than your allegations about the whole of 2A people. Maybe you should hang out with different people if those you know are such haters, rather than project it on everyone else.

generalizations with no specifics,
and characterized with your judgemental labels,
which by extension we are given to understand is your warning about TTAG.

Even here, in the short time I count 10 to one positive vs one negative comment by others, and that matches the many many other times when people have “come out” and the welcome mat is laid out,
or when some nitwit says something overtly racist, or homophobic,
and they are given no sympathy by the majority of readers here, if not a verbal kick in the A$$.

I’m not the speech nanny, of course, and I could be wrong- if so, I apologize up front, but I kinda like it here, and right now, IMHO, you are stinking the joint up.

“You haters” was the start of the SECOND paragraph of my first post, it refers to the hater people I referenced in the first paragraph. Now I will admit that I wrote that post poorly, but it went into moderation and I couldn’t edit it or request its deletion, hence I wrote my second post. Unfortunately you already had a pre-conceived notion about me by then and you read far too

In NO case, anywhere in that second post, did I generalize to ALL users of gun fora; I very carefully said “plenty of” (which doesn’t even mean “most,” much less “all” or “every”). And I have indeed met plenty of anti-gay bigots on gun fora; some of them can’t help but bring homosexuals up into totally unrelated threads and start bashing away. But anyway, I can say “plenty of” and this is a “generalization” that applies to everyone. WRONG.

I am not sure where think I am expressing a poor opinion of TTAG or of pro 2A people for being pro 2A; if you were to read my past comments on here it should be clear that I include MYSELF among the “adamantly pro-2A crowd.”

You’ve misunderstood me horribly. To the extent my poorly-phrased first post contributed to that, I apologize, but much of your analysis of my words consists of reading WAY too much into them.

…And yes, I too am gratified to note that the welcome mat has been rolled out for Sabrina, with a very few exceptions. She has certainly gotten a better reception than people do when they announce they are pro 2A Democrats (no, I am not a Democrat, so that’s not personal butthurt speaking).

But then again, neither you nor I know how busy the moderators have been here.

Ok, I accept your explanation- and yes, given I didnt see your moderated post, I missed the overall tone, and read too much into it, and over-reacted.
Sorry- my bad.

Its clear we both agree on pro-2A self-defense being a natural right, and

that those who feel their sexuality is a natural right that is up to them to decide,

and that its also being accepted by most independent thinking freedom loving folks, like here at TTAG, as something up to LGBT, to decide, as their business, not ours-

if posts are to be believed as representative of the whole. And, if you can further believe that TTAG is actually more diverse than one might assume, coming at it from the typical assumptions of the progtard left, then TTAG is actually mainstream. And here is some possible proof, or at least, leading indicators of change- and something we can also agree on SteveinCO, the times they are a changing:

When I was buying a pistol, I looked at the CZ, and the Ruger SR9, but I didn’t like the CZ, partially the safety didn’t feel natural to me (being a lefty has it’s down falls), the reason I like the Springfield is it has external safeties that are natural to use (the grip safety for one).

As a big fan of CZ, I find that although I like the handling aspects, trigger pull and weight distribution of the P-07 (in contrast to the CZ75B) I don’t like the plastic sights and overall increase in girth of the P07, due to the polymer design. I usually stick with my CZ 2075 Rami when CC. I also found my P07 to be less accurate than the 75B, but maybe it’s because I don’t have enough trigger time behind it.

Good for you defending yourself.
You might inform others that they were among the first rounded up and sent to the camps or simply shot on the spot when the bad guys took power, look at history. Good luck, it is a dangerous world out there.

I explain that to people when I have discussions about gun control, and they can’t seem to grasp it (interesting side note that after the camps were liberated in ’45, LGBT folks weren’t freed, they had to finish out jail time).

They were also denied pensions that were otherwise due to concentration camp inmates as “victims of fascism”.

I always found it interesting that East Germany effectively decriminalized homosexuality a whole decade earlier than West Germany (not removing the law from the books, but reclassifying it as misdemeanor as it was before the Nazis right away, and basically ceasing all enforcement from 1957 onwards; they did eventually remove it). This despite the fact that its constitutionality was challenged in West Germany, and went all the way to their supreme court. This discrepancy in laws was actually something that had to be specifically addressed during reunification.

I’m proud to say that Guns Save Life meetings include members who are openly and not-so-openly gay and at least one transgendered individual I’m proud to call a friend. Yes, we even welcome pro-gun Democrats, even if I don’t understand the party affiliation. I suspect they are John Kennedy Democrats though, not Nancy Pelosi Democrats.

We are very much not the redneck, racist, sexist, homophobes that gun-hating zealots label us. But what do you expect from bigots who hate guns, right?

Welcome Sabrina.

And if you’re ever in Central IL, come join us at one of our monthly meetings.

@S. Gray, really…good on you and all of that. Glad you are now pro-2A. But consider dropping the BLT language. Honestly, few give a rat’s behind. No need to get into your physical/gender identification.

In the second paragraph, it should read “If it makes anyone uncomfortable…”

(El Mac didn’t register his disgust with what she said, just claimed (wrongly) that it was superfluous. But I am sure someone will feel uncomfortable; that sentence should rightly be directed to them.)

I wrote the second post once I realized you had *not* said you were made uncomfortable, specifically said you hadn’t said you were uncomfortable, and you confirmed that later. (Yet you felt compelled to correct me anyway, even though I had already corrected myself. )

I realized the statement I made in the first didn’t apply to you but might apply to others, so I tried to amend it.

It’s possible this is all a matter of timing. Is it possible you didn’t see my second post (with me changing “you” to “anyone”) until after you wrote your response to my first post? I did write it before I saw your response. If that happened this whole convo would make a heck of a lot more sense to me.

@SteveInCO, actually it doesn’t make me feel uncomfortable. I just find it unnecessary. Kinda like running around telling everybody “I’m black”, “hey, did you know I’m black?”…”dude, checkitout, I’m BLACK”. Uh, yeah…right, whatever. It makes no difference WHY someone is threatened, the only fact that matters is that they WERE threatened. That is the conversation.

Bringing up gender identity in this particular story is almost directly analogous to bringing up sex in the multitude of “why women should carry” or “Jews should be pro gun” editorials we’ve seen on TTAG. The broad strokes may suffice for some but the details may bring more into the fold. Numbers are our real weapon in this fight.

That being said….. As others have said, I honestly couldn’t care less if I tried about other peoples sexual proclivities, choices, identity, ideals, etc….. As with all things in life, Do as you please so long as you do no harm to others in the process.

Many of the people I know in the LGBT in my area not only support the 2a but own, shoot, train and hunt more than I do. I’d rather identify them only as POTG and potential allies in this fight than to relegate(and separate) them into some ludicrous sub-group.

There’s a commenter at HuffPo who uses the name Sabrina Gray and leaves excellent comments on the gun threads there. Perhaps that’s you?

It’s interesting to learn about your situation. I wish more lbgt and racial minorities would realize that gun rights especially benefit them. Thanks for spreading the word. Btw, I’m a Republican, and don’t give a crap about other’s sex lives. It’s not my or the government’s business what adults are doing. All the best to you.

Since you’re in Seattle, I hope you’re talking to all your friends about voting “YES” on I-591 and “NO” on I-594. Even if they don’t want to carry or even own guns themselves, they should be supporting that right for everyone who qualifies. If you or they don’t know about the Initiatives, more info can be found here:http://wagunrights.org/

Good for you. I think that the majority of people believe that the government aught to stay out of the gun cabinet and the bedroom. When pricing is an issue, I’d check the vast amounts of online gun retailers if you haven’t already, then perhaps check gun shows and gun stores and look for used guns. Something like an XD wont have any issues even if its used heavily, I carry a standard XD .45 and I myself bought it used from a gun store, and its pretty worn, but works great, never have any issues with it. Unless of course you want it brand new, nothing wrong with that.

The Pink Pistols (who are quite well known in the Bay Area) were founded by a group of gay men who were tired of being beaten up. So far, their efforts have not been successful in obtaining CCWs–San Francisco is one of those ” we do not issue under any circumstance except to one or two cops” jurisdictions. They march in the annual Gay Freedom Parade in SF as well as in other California cities. Very active in the 2A fight.

In Seattle, the cheapest way to buy a new gun is LowPriceGuns.com. They are bottom feeders – discounts, odd lots, liquidation sales, etc. You search their web site, and if you find what you like, buy it with a credit card and select in-store pickup. The store is in Bellevue on 20th St NE – you have to pay sales tax, but no shipping and no transfer fee. The 226 bus goes right by it if you don’t drive, transfer at Downtown Bellevue TC.

I see on LowPriceGuns.com they have a Springfield XD9 3″ sub-compact, with lame but useable mag pouch and holster, for $477. They have a Ruger SR9C, a better gun in my view, for $424.

It isn’t only LGBT who are on their own in this crazy world. Straight people probably won’t get backup from a crowd of civilians either. About self-defense, most people have strong opinions which are mostly not rational. I’ve lost a friend or two over this, you probably will too. If they can’t at least agree to disagree, maybe they weren’t real friends anyway. I’m too ornery to go in the closet over defending myself, but a lot of gun owners do keep quiet about it and I can see the advantages.

I hear you there, I’ve lost a couple friends over past couple years in all this hysteria, and the sad part is I’ve always been a gun guy/hunter since I was young, and some of these knew that. Like, they expected me to just get rid of all my guns and way of life to continue to be friends with them, because they were upset over a couple shootings. I tried to reason but they wouldnt have it so I told them they could follow their fellow Utopian leaders straight to hell. Madness. Pure madness.

That is no loss to you!
There is an old Indian (and I am part Choctaw, so please don’t PC bash me), that runs something to the effect:
“If at the end of his life, a man cannot count his true friends on the fingers of one hand, and his enemies as the stars in the night sky, then he has not lived it well”.

I am not sure but I think Sabrina is looking for a compact, not a sub-compact.

I’d suggest the CZ-75 compact, except it’s probably too heavy for the carry rig shown; it’d end up around her ankle rather quickly. (One of the few times I will consider weight of a steel gun a disadvantage.)

Personally I think the bite on the grip is a good thing, especially for a EDC gun. During a high stress situation, you might get sweaty palms and having something that gives a little bit more grip is better.

LowPriceGuns is a small store, but they do have a decent amount of things in stock, including some fairly expensive items (like say $2000+ ARs), so I’d say that the “bottom feeder” label is really uncalled for. Their prices are generally lower than elsewhere, that much is true, but that’s just smart business.

Also, they’re one of the cheapest places to do transfers – $30 each (most everybody else charges $50, and even more if they happen to have the same model in stock).

I’m sorry that I phrased that wrong. I did not mean it negatively. Every ecosystem needs a scavenger, and if you are willing to watch their website you can get some really good deals. Also they are nice people, but you should understand that their main business is web orders and drop shipping. Their store is very small and has a limited selection. I think they only have a store because the BATF requires a physical store, with regular hours, in order to hold an FFL. I think that is also why in-store pickup is such a good deal – they need to generate a certain amount of store traffic to satisfy the authorities.

However that may be, LowPriceGuns is a great resource if you live in the Seattle area. I buy all my guns through them now and I’ve been well treated every time. As a bonus, Wade’s Eastside Guns is right near by and they have a huge selection which you can showroom and rent on their range. Wade’s prices are always 10%-20% higher than LowPriceGuns’ prices.

The problem with Wade’s is their treatment of customers, ranging from indifferent to rude (at least it was the case when I last shopped there, which was like 3 years ago – and that was exactly the reason why I haven’t come back).

On the other hand, West Coast Armory is not far away, either, and they also have a pretty decent selection (tho usually smaller than Wade’s) – and a much better range to try it out on. I’ve noticed that LPG folk will also generally direct people to WCA when they advise to “try things out” when a customer comes in and is uncertain about the choices (which they often do).

As for the store itself, my feeling is that it’s more of Jason’s (the owner) hobby-as-work thing. If it was solely for the sake of the license, I don’t see why they’d be open on Saturdays. They also carry a fair bit of other “survival” stuff there, not just firearms & accessories – like, say, freeze-dried food.

I don’t think your comprehending the power that members of the LGBT community have to sway public opinion. As soon a moderate democrat sees your a white male they stop listening to reason. As soon as you speak about marriage equality or abortion they stop listening.

As a member of the LGBT community we have the unique opportunity actually get people to hear what we are saying about 2A rights. We are not immediately disregarded and a message is heard. Even if they don’t change their view at that moment, the seed has been planted. In my experience, getting one of them to the range isn’t too difficult.

Lastly, when you tell people to not identify their sexuality/gender, it only encourages us to be more flamboyant. Look at the pride festivals, it’s all about being as dramatic as possible to show people that their beliefs against us do not effect us. My advice to you would be focus on the fact that we all agree on 2A rights, and leave the other opinions to yourself. We cannot be divided over outside issues. These next 6 years could set progress back 50 years if we don’t rally together to fight this battle.

Natural human reaction- whenever somebody gets told ” you are evil/inferior/damned because you are XYZ” the person so maligned will be inclined to take an opposing stance. Just think about how you feel when you see an anti-gun nut throwing around nonsense about rednecks, child-murdering and tiny genitals? Does it make you want to pretend you’re anti-gun too, or does it have a rather different effect?

“Pride” is probably the wrong term for it. The way I understand it, it’s meant to be a reversal of the historical attitude, which was that being gay was meant to be something to be ashamed of, a “crime against nature” inherent in the nature of one’s being. And historically it’s what many of the people like that were actually made to believe about themselves, struggling to resist the “corruption”, even marrying and creating families while suppressing their real nature. Now, when after many years of this, these people can now appreciate themselves for what they are, it’s not illogical that they would declare “pride” in their nature as a gesture of defiance to what they were told to believe about themselves before.

Thank you for sharing your story with us. Good on you for doing what it takes to protect yourself. Find the money to get your CC gun, obtain a license and start carrying. I hope you never have to use it, but in case you do, at least you will have it.

You are the way God made you. On the other hand, you have to protect yourself. I’ve never thought negative about LGBT, just figured you were different. Nothing wrong with that.

I’ve been very careful to avoid trouble BUT, I carry a gun. Look at a small 9 mm, little cheaper, Ruger LC9, Kahr Arms CW9093, etc. They have a long trigger pull but they are fine for self defense in my opinion.

1.) Everyone should be pro-gun, self protection is blind to the individual.
2.) People of the gun are most likely religious conservatives that hate the gay. But that’s changing.
3.) I am not walking on eggshells with LGBTYQXYZ groups. You can label yourself, but don’t expect most people to know the difference between a transgender and a gender non-conformist. There are too many letters to keep track of, and too many of those letters would see me fired from my job and sued if I accidentally use the wrong one.
4.) Gun blog comment section is not the place for poignant discussion. Humanity is lost on both sides.
5.) Enjoy firearms, and stay safe!

“4.) Gun blog comment section is not the place for poignant discussion. Humanity is lost on both sides.”

I disagree. This is the perfect place to talk. How can we talk and gather a group of pro 2A people. We are all different, and yet we all need/desire/deserve/need the ability to protect ourselves. Gender and race and sex have nothing to do with personal protection. We need to talk and learn that everyone needs protection. Some need it more than others. Humanity is gained if understanding is learned.

I’m glad you’re pro-2A. I find your choice of lifestyle disgusting and vile. But you don’t need a gun or anything else to defend yourself from me. Pointing out your behavior as repulsive doesn’t equate to a threat.

Smells like it to me too. Its only to be expected- can’t have someone like a self-announced LGBT person allowed to leave the progtard plantation without a fight, right. Never mind personal freedom, facts, respect- its against the progressive narrative! Forward! MoveOn! Hope and Change, baby.

@John G., good people don’t make bad decisions (killing innocent people) because they are inconvenient. Good people protect innocent people. Leftards are self serving ‘tards that care only for themselves. Their extent of caring for anything stops at the end of their nose.

@Rich Grise, ahhh, the ol skinner strikes again. The only problem with your little theory is that you fail to fully engage the brain and realize you are talking about TWO sets of skin. You set one above the other. I do not. One chose to engage in acts that led to the production of the second. Why should the second suffer the consequences of being “inconvenient” to the first? The first commits murder for the sake of expediency. So typical of the Left. So sad.

You’re actually not making a bad point, Big E. The pro-gun tent should be expanded as broad as we possibly can to get everyone inside. We don’t all have to agree on these other issues as long as we can treat others with respect.

When you put words like “disgusting” and “vile” out there though be prepared for the push-back. This will eventually be a minority view in America. I might agree with you in some ways about LGBT lifestyles but I generally won’t just put those opinions out unless specifically asked. It’s part of the whole idea of getting along with all these other pro-gun folk.

There are things that I find disgusting and vile, mainly those who are against Freedom, period. But there’s not a whole lot I can do about it but sit here and snivel about it on BBSs, or send money to outfits like CALGUNS and CAL-FFL and Firearms Policy Coalition.

And Big E, you don’t seem to realize that many would see you as being disgusting and vile. And that’s without even getting into the huge numbers of people that would assume that you have a gun fetish and that you are compensating for a lack of masculinity by dissing gay folks; just being a hater makes you an evil person.

Last summer there was a spate of attacks on LGBT people in NYC. I wonder if those attackers would have been so tough if their victims had been armed? Glad to hear you’re going to stand up for your right not to be victimized because of who you are.

And yes, LGBT voices do give the gun movement more cred in the mainstream press. We need all the Sabrinas we can get!

Good read, and thanks for sharing. I have very strong beliefs that the 2A and LGBT communities need to come together. Let’s face it, both crowds do not like being told how to live their lives by other people or governing bodies.
LGBT crowd has a very high rate of victimization. We in the 2A crowd can teach them how to survive.
2A crowd needs to learn to fight political and social oppression. The LGBT crowd can help us survive.

When a guy admits he is a member of a violent racist organization (to the point of using his membership card as a threat) and verbally assaults you in public, you can be damn sure he is somewhere between the planning and execution stages of a physical attack.

I’m in an interracial relationship and that means certain yahoos might take issue with it. I don’t care if someone with the IQ of a tennis ball tells me I’m a race traitor or drops a few epitaphs to show how cultural they are but if it gets physical then someone is going to get a new tattoo.
If I had your situation I wouldn’t leave home without some kind of protections, maybe not necessary a firearm in all places but you should consider some kind of protection and learn to defend yourself.

My first week living in South Carolina a guy stopped his pickup truck in a parking lot just to tell me I was a nigger lover. It was a rather sobering experience. I wasn’t afraid of the guy but I was in condition orange at that point, because if he had actually gotten out of the car I was ready to draw.

That is very true. When Reggie Bush was on the cover of Essence Magazine, there were a lot of upset black folks. He was in an interacial relationship. A black girl brought the magazine to work and they were all discussing the controversy. One of them asked “Why did you buy the magazine if you are so upset?” She said “Girl!? He is fine!”

I was surprised that it’s even a thing in today’s America. But, apparently, it’s still something many “deep South” conservatives feel strongly about, to the point of saying that interracial marriage should be banned outright (IIRC it was something like 30% in favor of that in Mississippi not long ago?). Mind boggles.

There’s always going to be stupid or ignorant people in any country. Look at any post-Soviet Combloc and check the percentage of the population advocating a return to Communism as one example. What I’m most afraid is when supposedly smart people in government or higher academia are seemingly shocked by this and keep thinking that Utopian Nirvana can only be achieved if stupidity or ignorance is eliminated.

Welcome to the community of gun owners. I have had several Gay and Lesbian couples in my gun classes. After hearing their stories about how they came about coming to the realization that their protection is really in their own hands, I am amazed that more in the LGBT community are not gun owners. They quickly found out that the police are many minutes away if they ever arrive. I wish every state had a Pink Pistols Chapter.

In my conversation with others in the LGBT community, I feel that sometimes they feel like they must be Democrats and once in that box they feel like they need to also hold all those same views. I am happy that you now see that is not true and you can be independent or Libertarian and vote for the best candidates and not simple pull on the “D” lever in the voting booth.

Good Luck in your job search and hope you are soon able to purchase your gun soon.

Welcome aboard. Please don”t assume all of us old white guys share the same values. I’ve been an antique dealer for 20 years and many people in the business are ” different”. Yes I have conservative beliefs but rule # 1 is ” love thy neighbor as thyself”. I get tired of the stereotyping of most of MY life. When you spoke of the Aryan a@@hole I was angered. I’m still a big old 60yearold but I’ve been married to a beautiful black woman for 25 years. I would have killed that jerk. I don’t get much abuse now but many years ago there was crap from both sides. Get a gun. Carry a gun. Defend yourself. Good luck.

You would have killed the jerk for uttering a few words that offended you????

You should rethink your decision to carry a firearm….. IMHO you might want to get a grasp on your emotional instability first….

I am a former water walker as well (autodin) …so I know you possess the intelligence necessary to stop, reflect and analyze your statement and rethink your proposed knee jerk reaction. ZKL your ZAF USAF 30750

and thanks for “coming out” as I suspect there are more folks like you, reading TTAG for good info, and the numbers lurking might be higher than anyone guesses, just based on the many posts by other folks of all the diverse types that have also “come out” and been welcomed as well as POTG, responsible gun-owners looking to become informed. Even a couple of “liberals”…horrors! jk.

We are not the prototypical “OFWG gun bullies” the PC left would like everyone to believe we must be, and our shared interest in personal freedom is universal, as is our respect for those who show independent thinking, rational discourse, and personal courage- as you have demonstrated already standing up to the group think in some quarters of the LGBT community.

You may not even realize how much good you have already done, for even if some of your friends cant come out and say it, you have given them the example of how to think outside the bounds of what the kool kids want you to believe.

Here is something one of the occasional TTAG posters has had up online for years, and I’d be interested in your take.

You should write an article- if you dont mind my saying- that Walmart story was excellent- everyone can relate to that, and I would guess especially those like you feeling vulnerable in a time of change. How you went about handling it as a practical matter, would be useful and demystifying to those in the LGBT community who have never considered a gun as a solution, but might, once they realize its only a tool, and doesnt make you a “bad person”.

Thank you, I have actually thought about writing some articles about this issue, as well as others. I knew that TTAG generally isn’t filled with OFWG, but I knew there were going to be some readers who didn’t appreciate the context of the story, which is why I put in the pitchforks and torches reference.

Thank you for sharing your story, and glad to know you are part of the TTAG community.

I don’t mean to take your story to point out or come up with another. In the last few years, I have noticed a small trend….even on local gun forums in Florida:

Many Pro-2A folks coming out of the closet. Not coming out as being LGBT but openly supporting the LGBT community and their right to freedom just as every other american……which by stereotype and a loud but seemingly shrinking minority has long discouraged and frowned upon.

Or simply putting it out there that what neighbors do behind closed doors does not cause a breakdown of society, just as guns down turn the streets into rivers of blood.

I think, I hope, it is finally clicking that fundamentally, that lgbt just like the pro-gun folks are only asking to be left alone, without emotional kneejerk reactions interfering with their choices. Choices, like owning an AR-15, do not cause harm to anyone else or infringe on anyone else’ rights. As such causing the realization that not wanting .gov in the gun-safe is fundamentally not so much different then not wanting .gov in the bed-room.

Obviously LGBT are still fighting an uphill battle and pro-gun are defending going further downhill but in the end, does it not come down to:

JUST LEAVE US BE
WE ARE AMERICANS
WE ARE FREE
WE MAKE OUR OWN CHOICES
YOU WILL MAKE YOUR OWN CHOICES
WE WILL NOT STEP ON YOUR FREEDOMS
DO NOT STEP ON OUR FREEDOMS
JUST LEAVE US BE

I can’t speak to the Aryan card, but I can the KKK card. At least some people carry them. The one I was given by some guys who helped me out when I ran out of gas on my motorcycle in the middle of nowhere said, “You have just been patronized by a member of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan” or something close to that.

AARP is notorious for jumping on the bandwagon condemning any politician who tries to reform social security/medicare. I don’t know what their 2A stance is, or even whether they have one, but they seem to be reliably welfare statist if not progressive on other issues.

Even among Tea Party, 80% oppose cuts to existing (pre-Obamacare) social security programs, and Medicare in particular. So it may be “progressive”, but it’s broadly supported even among American conservatives – so an organization supporting it is not necessarily “progressive”.

Welcome to the club! the LGBT community has the Constitutional and God Given Right to the pursuit of happiness and to protect themselves, just like anyone else in the USA. I have better things to do with my life then judge other people for the way they live, and anyone that thinks otherwise is ignorant!

OK. Guns are icky, so sayeth the LGBT crowd. I get it. But are tasers icky? Knives? Pepper spray?

Homosexuals and transgenders face the same risks as everyone else, except one – they have an elevated risk of being harassed or beaten because they are different. While presenting a loaded firearm in such a situation is probably the best deterrent, if the weapon were to be used, as opposed to merely displayed, there are advantages to less than lethal weapons. There’s a reason bears don’t mess with porcupines and skunks.

One of the big advantages to a firearm is that the mere sight of one will cause all but the most determined to break off an attack. You don’t even have to brandish it, simply pulling your shirt over the grips will usually do. You just don’t get that with pepper spray. If someone chooses to carry less than lethal defensive tools there is a much greater chance of actually having to use them. The disadvantage of a firearm is the risk of having to use it in the wrong jurisdiction. Granted you might get a DA that wants to prosecute you for using pepper spray too, but then you’re looking a misdemeanor assault charge, not murder 1.

The other advantage to a firearm is that it is much more useful against multiple attackers. If you’re going to carry a taser you might want to also carry a knife, etc. Bullies often travel in packs.

I know it’s funny, when I was in, I had one supervisor say about me “I would rather have one Gray, than 10 of your troops”, then many of my old sups friended me on FB, and I have been welcomed into my old career field groups with welcome arms (and that’s pretty awesome in that it’s a very masculine field).

2nd Amendment says you have right to keep and bare. You don’t have to rationalize, justify, explain anything about your desire to own a firearm.

So why the requirement do so in throwing your “lifestyle choice” in someone else’s (our) face? Your need to rationalize, justify, explain to those not involved, interested, or accepting of such is BS. As bad as your “Aryan Brotherhood” story. Keep it in YOUR bedroom/closet.

I am not throwing anything in your face, I am just recounting an event that happened in my past. If I had been “normal” the issue might not have occurred, so my status is important to the moral of the story.

I don’t see any mentions of gay pride parades and such in this post. It was a plain statement of fact – that the person is LGBT – that was directly relevant to the story. Yet this is still twisted as being “in your face” about it.

As for the lack of “straight pride” parades – there would be nothing wrong with such, but, on the other hand, there isn’t much real cause for celebration, either. The whole gay pride thing stems from the historical persecution and unequal treatment of LGBT people before the law. To remind, sodomy laws were only removed from the books in US 10 years ago. As a straight guy, I don’t recall ever being persecuted for my sexual preferences, so there’s no act of defiance of bigotry or celebration of acceptance in walking around with a sign that says “I’m straight!” in public. It’s not something that had to be fought to change.

@int19h, negative. The person’s “gender” or sexual identification makes no difference to the story. What is relevant is that the author, a person, was wrongfully threatened by another person. That’s it. The reason the author was threatened was irrelevant beyond needing to know that the threat was wrongful.

It’s an integral part of the narrative. I don’t see why it should be omitted just because it makes some of the readers squeamish.

Suppose that next time you told someone about some story that involves your wife, they’d be up in arms about the fact that you used the word “wife” rather than “spouse”, on the basis that this would be pushing your heterosexual identity on them in a context where it’s not relevant to the topic you were discussing. Ridiculous, isn’t? Well, so is demanding to omit the reason underlying the assault here.

I’m fine with that, if you promise that next time someone posts on TTAG about taking out their wife to the range as a means of turning her pro-gun, you will similarly complain about how them talking about the gender of their spouse is irrelevant to their message.

@int19h, thanks for making my point. If someone wants to mention their wife, fine. If they want to take it to the next level and mention their transgender wife – well now. Kinda puts the whole story and their reason for posting, in question.

I don’t want to be a victim, which is why I carry something to defend myself. I just want to be left alone and live my life without being verbally assaulted at a line in a store, is that to much to ask???

“I am white, and I was verbally assaulted by a black guy because I was walking through a mostly-black neighborhood.”

Are you really not able to comprehend the difference?

Even so, I would reiterate my point: if you really cannot, then why not treat it as a piece of completely irrelevant and uninteresting information and skip over it? Why all the verbal pecking over the fact that it was brought up? It’s almost as if it annoys you guys or something…

As a Christian and CCW holder I commend your patience and rational response to this nutcake. The 2A protects the 1A and all of the other freedoms afforded by God and not man.It is your right to be able to defend against criminals and nut cases, but also against tyranny. Keep on carrying as it’s your right. Btw, I notice that when I carry I’m humbled even more and find myself avoiding any confrontations. It is an awesome power but also brings incredible responsibility and accountability.

Peaches, I’m an old white guy and I’ve met your kind before. I know we are supposed to be broad thinkers and that technical breakthroughs allow choices that I never dreamed of as a boy but I want you to answer this; How can you even begin to consider a Springfield when you could have a SIG P239? I will never understand your type.

Man, if there was ever a group of people that should make a practice of carrying, it has to be transgender folks. Almost every single trans I have ever spoken with has been physically attacked at some point, in many cases multiple times. So good on you for standing up for yourself, Sabrina! I prefer the XD Subcompact in 9mm, but the Compact is not a bad choice if you prefer the .45ACP cartridge in a small(ish) package.

I cant even read this crap being spewed here.
I don’t care who or what you are.
Your a human being. As an American you have to right to defend yourself from harm in any way you legally choose.
What difference does your orientation make when choosing to be armed or not.
NONE.

“As the individual was leaving he showed me his Aryan Brotherhood membership card, and that was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I was visibly shaken and the employees at Walmart were excellent and banned him from the store.”

An armed society is a polite society. I find that when I carry, I’m as nice as I possibly can be. Kind of opposite what the grabbers would think. But yeah, if we thought the other guy/ girl could be packing, maybe we’d all just go about our business and not be A-holes all the time.

Personally, I do not approve of your lifestyle choice. I agree it’s your right to live as you wish and I will leave you in peace. I believe God made you the way you are and you should figure it out but that’s an entirely different discussion.
I’m very happy you see the real reason the 2A exists; because there are violent people who care not for peace, will hate you and cause you harm just because you have made choices for yourself. I don’t agree with your choices but what that guy did was wrong. He has no right to intimidate anyone.

America is about freedom. If your freedom doesn’t harm anyone else, so be it.

Altering your body is a choice, no matter how you feel.
I’ve never had any other urges other than straight, if you do, fine. I really don’t care but I do not approve. I bare no malice towards you but you are making a choice when you change yourself as drastically as a sex change.

I hope that someday you understand how a person can reach a point of either doing something to fix a problem or killing themselves. For many trans folk, that is exactly the situation we find ourselves in. I fixed it. Sabrina is working on it.

Your approval is not asked for. You not being a dick about it – that is required.

Good for you and thanks for making your post. As far as your life choice regarding your sexuality “Whatever gets you through the night”, not sure I understand it but if you’re happy I’m happy.

One of the challenges I see in my part of the US is that all the people who are very pro 2A and active tend to frequently be old white bible thumpers. We really need to get younger people involved not only in shooting but also activism. Here in PA, one of our state reps who is great on guns but religious on other issues felt compelled to get Phil Robertson to speak at the state capital rally on gun rights. I personally have nothing against Phil Robertson either way, but why make it about gay or anti-gay in any way? It’s about 2A and self defense.

God made her a male. She’s choosing to be a female. I disapprove.
If you or him/her or anyone else wants to, go ahead. Don’t expect anything from me and don’t expect me to change my mind.
It’s a choice when you alter your body in anyway for any reason, even deep feelings about wanting to be some other sex.
You were born a man and you want to be a woman, that’s a choice. You can decide not to be.
I’m unconvinced of any other arguement. Straight wasn’t a choice, I’ve never had feelings otherwise.

Never occurred to you that the mind could be changed? You know this happens all the time. People go to psychiatrists for any number of disorders and get successful treatment. Why is mind always right but the body is wrong? Johns Hopkins stopped doing sex change operations because you can’t turn a man into a woman or vise versa. Another issue was the high suicide rate of patients that had surgery. So to your point that “you change your body or you kill yourself” is not based on the fact that too many are changing their body yet committing suicide anyway.

Rich, this is what I don’t like about Losertarians. You quote everybody out of context to make it seem like you are being victimised somehow. You guys operate exactly like Liberals. You have different ideologies but both are unrealistic. Liberal policies are detrimental and Libertarian policies are not acheivable. You have been told before on TTAG “If you are going to quote me, quote the whole sentence”. My point is you preach “leave us alone and we will leave you alone” yet here you are every day bothering people.

No I am not an expert that is why I trust the experts at Johns Hopkins.
You are not an expert either just because you are a tranny. That would be like saying you are an expert at brain surgery just because you have a brain.

Friendliness has nothing to do with the fact that after pioneering the procedure They studied the long term effects (something that Liberals don’t do). They concluded that they were not actually helping people in your situation so it was compassion that guided the move to end the procedures.

Most of those suicides aren’t because the person is trans, but trans related issues. Let me ask you something, which would you prefer being yourself or loosing your family??? I will tell you what I might have joined those ranks if I had been a different person when my family disowned me because I told them I was trans, or how about being homeless because your constantly being discriminated against in the workplace (they did a study on it, trans have a 2x higher rate of being discriminated against when it comes to finding stable work), so don’t tell me that being “friendly” has nothing to do with it.
Don’t get me wrong their are some people who probably shouldn’t have had the surgery, I know one of them, but the fact of the matter, is that the doc didn’t take into account for all of the socio economic issues that revolve around being trans. Look at a couple of people on this thread who claim that they have been fired up on because that they are trans, that should give anyone pause to rethink what you wrote.

Huh what? Not one comment so much as even implied that any person regardless of orientation should be denied 2a rights. You implied in your question that someone had. Don’t see where you had trouble following that.

While I am personally against homosexuality, I believe in freedom, and respect that you and only you should be able to decide how to live your life, and it shouldn’t be in hiding. I welcome you to our community. While I may not agree with your choice, targeting and harassing people for any reason is wrong, and so is not coming to their aid. I’d like to believe that most of us feel the same way. I believe that here you will be welcomed with open arms, at least mostly. Have you ever considered libertarian?

Thanks for your post. I am 32 years post-op M-F. My transition began in 1976.
I’ve owned an AR-15 since 1982. I am a Patron Member and have been a member of the NRA since 1982.
I have 2 children that are both 2A advocates. They are grown men now.
My carry gun of choice is a Glock 19. I also carry a S&W AirLite 22 mag.
I’ve been shot at 3 times in my life. The first 2 occurred in the 1970s and was unrelated to LGBT issues. Once was a drunken neighbor who thought we were protecting his wife that he wanted to shoot. The other was a night time attack by high powered rifle intended to scare. It worked.
The 3rd time was more recent also unrelated to LGBT issues. I was caught in the crossfire of a daytime home invasion and waited 20 minutes for an LEO to arrive. My home was penetrated by gunfire. I assumed an armed defensive position.
I was armed in all 3 incidents but never chose to shoot back or there was no target I could positively identify as hostile.
The need for armed self-defence has always been apparent to me.
I don’t hide my gender situation, most people don’t know and don’t care.
One thing I don’t understand is why the so called progressive liberals don’t see the necessity of an unaltered, unadulterated Second Amendment.
I’ve been in many debates with those friends of mine who identify as solid liberal progressives. It is hard to believe, but many of them get their NEWS from Jon Stewart, Bill Maher and Steve Colbert! I’m not kidding!
Anyway, thanks for posting. There are many other so called pro Second Amendment sites that are so anti-LGBT that I no longer follow them. Many of them are on FB.
It is good to know that you and I, and others like us are welcome here.

“One thing I don’t understand is why the so called progressive liberals don’t see the necessity of an unaltered, unadulterated Second Amendment.”

In general, they are statists. The Second Amendment is an impediment to their goals, which is the squashing of individual liberty at the expense of state supremacy.

All “love” they claim for minorities and all tolerance they claim for those that are different is a lie…an illusion they’ve created to lull people into believing their statist altruism exceeds the benefits of the free individual.

@JR_in_NC, “In general, they are statists. The Second Amendment is an impediment to their goals, which is the squashing of individual liberty at the expense of state supremacy.

All “love” they claim for minorities and all tolerance they claim for those that are different is a lie…an illusion they’ve created to lull people into believing their statist altruism exceeds the benefits of the free individual.”

ABSOLUTELY AND AMEN!!! This needs to be said and understood everyday. This is the enemy of the United States of America.

@Casey, now if your gay bud were living in the buckle of the musloid belt….say Dearborn, MI or Tehran, Iran…then he would indeed have a real proem to worry about. Christians, not so much except for perhaps his own guilty conscience.

Again, this string was started on the fact that you would need a gun to protect yourself in the Islamic community for being gay because they will kill you. Catholics not welcoming you to the church? You really want to equate Catholicism with Islam? I’ll leave it at that.

“You really want to equate Catholicism with Islam? I’ll leave it at that.”

Not “equate,” necessarily, but you have to admit, they are both religions that have faith in some invisible infinite authoritarian in the sky that promises eternal life after you’re dead, and who consider women to be property.

If they are doing what you say, seems they aren’t exactly in line with Pope Francis. He said about gays “who am I to judge”, and I’m pretty sure he said he would embrace civil unions, but not marriage in the church.

Fun fact: in Iran, being gay is a capital offense, but being trans is not. According to a fatwa issued by Khomeini himself back in 80s, the soul is primary and the body is secondary, and therefore the soul is definitive in what the person’s gender is. So if someone is physically male but consider themselves female, or vice versa, then according to Iranian law they qualify (and are expected to undergo) state-funded gender reassignment surgery to “set things right”, and all official papers, records etc are adjusted accordingly. As a result, Iran carries out more such operations than US does – in fact, more than any other country except for Thailand.

@Peaches, what about them? They don’t speak for me or my church. Or any one else’s church that I know of… and what…they got… 20 members? Between them, they probably have 6 teeth. Big deal. So now who is painting with a broad brush???

@ElMac. Ask yourself, why do you have a burning need to invalidate the choices of someone you don’t know and never met over an experience you never lived or could possibly live and will never directly affect you in the first place?

Well, actually… unless there’s been amazing advances done since my surgery, the only thing that’s guaranteed is that the original parts will never, ever work the same way again. As for the new configurations… as they say, “your mileage may vary.”

I’m a late comer to this party and I apologize if I retread anything. I don’t have time to read all of the above comments quite yet.
LGBT folks seem like they should be the strongest supporters of gun rights out there. In western PA, a lot of people are. I fall into the “B” part of that spectrum and have gotten plenty of flak and even heartfelt threats if I was visibly dating a girl at the time. I have about a dozen transgender friends of both flavors and I believe six of them carry daily, most of them having been convinced by experiences like Sabrina’s. I think everyone that is willing to train and develop the right mindset should be armed and has a duty to contribute to their own safety. If you are part of a minority or have physical disadvantages in a fight, it’s a little less optional.
Thanks for the article, Sabrina. It takes guts to bare all in a community that’s built up a reputation for being less tolerant than many. There’s an old guard gun culture, one that founded the OFWG, hardcore republican stereotype. There’s also a quiet new addition to that, with people of varied backgrounds from goth kids and metalheads (James Hetfield!), LGBT people, nerds, and everyone else that doesn’t fall into the media’s image of what gun owners look like and live like. A LOT of those people are independents fed up with a government that they’ve not believed for much or all of their adult life and yet most of them vote. Everyone that supports the second amendment needs a supportive voice, because losing that amendment is just a generation of frustrated voters away.

Vote Libertarian! It’s the closest thing to “None of the Above” that we’ve got. It takes some guts and maybe a little craziness to break away from the herd, but that’s really the only known path to Liberty.

Funny you say that, I became immediately suspicious of the validity of this story when the writer mentioned this. So many political(non-gun related), agenda oriented “coincidences” on this site buried in the articles.

On this one I am only recounting a story I heard, but I was in the military attending ALS (that’s Airman Leadership school), the instructors recounted a story where someone lost their wallet at the NCO club, and during the process of validating their identity, someone at the club noticed that they had a KKK paraphernalia in their wallet. Well needless to say they were booted from the AF toot sweet. Also some on here has already mention that they received paraphernalia from the KKK at some point in his life, are you going to call BS on that story as well???

It doesn’t matter to me if folks are LGBT, straight, have a different skin color,ect. if they are on my side (pro-gun ownership) then I’m cool. I support them because we have three enemies in common (politicians,Anti-gun rights cultists and rust)

My first experience with this issue was during a security job. I worked night-security at a high-rise office complex in Dallas. One of our tenants was a leading counselor who’s clients were individuals undergoing gender reassignment. Due to the nature of being trans-gender in a State like Texas, the counselor conducted many of her appointments after regular business hours. For this reason one of my duties was escorting the counselor, and often her clients, to and from their cars.

It stuck with me what a difficult journey gender reassignment must be, and how great the turmoil and risk that must be faced. Sabrina, I hope you never have to face the kind of danger were you may need your gun, but I am happy that you have chosen to carry, and wish you the best of luck.

I recently moved to the Seattle-ish area. I know very few people out here and even less people of the gun so if you ever want to try out some of my pistols or potentially borrow one until you can get one of your own let me know we can work something out.

And if you need any pointers with a pistol or just want to head to the range sometime also let me know. I am an IDPA Safety Officer and I’ve been shooting IDPA and USPSA for about 4 years now for whatever that is worth so I am fairly legitimate but not necessarily a pistol instructor but I can still give a few pointers if they are wanted. Or if you ever have a desire to try USPSA or IDPA I have some spare gear you can use to try that out too.

I know it’s the internet and so it’s hard to tell if anyone is serious or joking but I am 100% serious in both regards.

I have a XDm but it is the competition model with the long barrel and it’s in 45 so not quite something you’d want to conceal. You’re welcome to try it though. The grip is covered in blue glitter because why not. I have a few small guns suitable for CCW that might be a bit more appropriate to try out for a carry gun though. I’m sure the mods can get you my email address from here.

3-Gun is very fun but IDPA and USPSA have a cheaper cost barrier to entry. For IDPA and USPSA you need a pistol, holster, mags and mag pouches. For 3-gun you need all that and a rifle and rifle mags and rifle mag pouches, a shotgun, shells, and some way to hold those shells on your belt. So I’d recommend you try IDPA or USPSA (There are nuanced differences to those and reasons why I prefer one over the other but I won’t bog you down with the details right now) and if you like those then you can progress your way into 3-gun.

Funny how the Catholic Church position changes over time.
In the early to mid 1990s, I was ordained as a Catholic lay minister. The Pastor of the Church I attended was aware that I was a post-op TS and the Archdiocese was also aware of that fact. Regardless, I was ordained after taking the required courses. I was also invited to become a member of the Catholic Daughters. I was also credentialed as Lector and Catechist. I also served as Choir Director for a number of years during that time.
That was then, this is now. The progressive movement in the Catholic Church has gone with the wind. I am no longer a practicing Catholic although I have faith that Pope Francis will put things right.

The Aryan Nation does have a membership packet which may include a card but it costs $45 to find out ($55 for you and your significant other but I have more than a hunch you better be straight and whiter than my teeth ever were. I won’t even go into religion, heritage or race but they do in the membership application.). I recommend you not visit the site. I had to give my PC a bath afterwards.

Their is a strong chance that the person Sabrina ran into was either with the Aryan Nation or was a AB pretender like the guys who buy a badge and pretend to be a cop. It is suicide to pretend you are part of the AB.

Yes, this includes numerous murders and executions, including those of non-combatants and POWs; men forced to dig their own graves; men forced to say on camera that their fate is slaughter etc. It is sickening. It’s precisely why you should watch it, so that you know what we’re dealing with.

Look the way I see it is that it do t matter what I think of transsexuals or gays or whatever. I don’t have the right to tell you hw to live your life anymore then you have the right to cut my testicals off and make me wear a dress. Your life your business. Somebody can dislike you or even hate you, that’s there right too. They however have no right to try to use force to coerce or repress you. If they do, you have a right and a responsibility to defend yourself.
I am not, for religious reasons, a big fan of the gay lifestyle. I do however support arming glbt people. I also think people who mistreat them are assholes.